Dragon Diaries: Shanghai Adventures 2003
by Lady Iapetus Roving Wanderer
Summary: Following the Christmas Invasion of '02, five children from Shanghai must confront a past evil that threatens both worlds. Part of Lord Archive's Diaries universe.


_Digimon is the property of Toei and Sensations Animation. This is  
set in Lord Archive's Red Digivice Diaries/War Diaries universe._

On any given day, it wasn't a surprise to hear the sounds of battle coming from inside Chou's  
Tai Chi Dojo. Chou-sensei had never once canceled a class, and his daughter and only child,  
Yuehon, was one of his best students.

This day found father and daughter between classes, sparring against each other in one of  
the classrooms. Normally Chou Peng enjoyed these matches with Yuehon, as it not only allowed  
him to spend time with her but to also gauge her progress. It made him proud that one day she  
would be master of the dojo in his place, and not a stranger.

But today was different. Although she fought strongly, Yuehon's heart and mind weren't  
completely into the fight. This was especially evident after Peng knocked Yuehon to the floor  
by sweeping her legs out from under her, a move that he hadn't been able to catch her with  
since she was nine.

"I am sorry, Father," Yuehon apologized breathlessly, averting her gaze. "I guess my  
concentration is not where it ought to be."

"No, I guess not," her father answered, extending a hand to help Yuehon to her feet. "Why  
don't we call it quits for the day? My intermediate class should be here in ten minutes,  
and you obviously have other things on your mind." Yuehon blushed. "You still fought well  
today."

Yuehon grinned. "Thank you, Father." She and her father bowed to each other, then Yuehon  
hurried to the stairs that led to the Chou's home above the dojo.

"Yuehon!" Peng called. She stopped halfway up the stairs and turned around. "You know that  
if you have a problem, you can come to me or to your mother with it."

She nodded. "I know." Then she ran up the rest of the way.

_I know I can come to you and Mother with just about anything, Father,_ Yuehon thought to  
herself as she entered her bedroom. She smiled as her eyes fell on a a round pendant and a  
watch-like device that lay on the top of her desk. _But there are just some things I cannot  
share with you just yet._

**Dragon Diaries - Shanghai Adventures 03  
By Lady Iapetus**

**Entry 1 - Something Bad**

Yuehon stepped out of the shower, tightening her bathrobe around her body before heading to  
her bedroom to dress. At the same time she forced down a yawn, preventing it from emerging fully.

That was part of the reason that Yuehon's attention hadn't been fully on the battle with her  
father earlier - she hadn't been getting very much sleep lately. For the past week or so, it  
seemed, she had been plagued by nightmares of her time spent in the Digital World, in particular  
the final battle against Lord Fuugamon. At least twice a night Yuehon would awaken, not screaming  
thankfully, but gasping for air, her heart pounding as though she'd just finished an intense  
workout.

_I wonder why I am dreaming about all of that now, three years later?_ she thought to herself  
as she pulled her shirt over her head. _We killed Lord Fuugamon, Gennai sent us home, and  
that was that._

Briefly Yuehon's mind touched on her teammates, and what the four of them might have to say  
about the nightmares she had been having. Shu, she knew, would try to cheer Yuehon up and  
take her mind off of the dreams, probably by recounting some silly dream of her own. Zhi on  
the other hand would attribute the nightmares to the fact that the Christmas Invasion had  
only been two and a half weeks ago, and having been around Hanumon again had probably unlocked  
the memories of their first adventure.

Then there was Wulan. The only boy of the group, brought up in a strict military household.  
His reaction would probably be to dismiss her nightmares as only that - bad dreams. Like Zhi,  
Jia Li would also link the dreams to the Christmas Invasion, but the youngest team member  
would be the only one to label them as omens. She would definately claim that Yuehon's  
ancestors were sending her these nightmares as warnings of some imminent event.

Thinking back to that day, Yuehon recalled how wonderful it had been to reunite with  
Bakumon, even if it had been for a short time and she had temporarily evolved to her Adult  
level. It was also nice meeting other Digi-destined, like the Hoi brothers or Yagami Hikari,  
face to face for the first time during the journey to Hong Kong.

Inspiration hit Yuehon as suddenly as the leg sweep her father had performed on her during their  
exercise. Sitting down at her computer, she accessed her e-mail program and, glad that she had  
swapped e-mail addresses with the Japanese girl, quickly began composing an e-mail addressed to Hikari.

It began, _Do you know anything about dreams?_

* * *

In the Wen family shrine knelt a small eleven year-old girl. Her black hair, falling just past  
chin-length, fell past her face as she bowed her head to pray to her ancestors.

Or at least, _tried_ to pray to them.

Lately it had become more difficult for Jia Li to offer prayers to her ancestors. She would  
come into the temple, light incensce and kneel on the floor as she was supposed to, but found  
she had little to say. The corner of her mouth turned upward as she thought part of the reason  
was that it was too quiet.

_Back in the Digital World, when I would pray in the Great Stone Forest, Terriermon would be  
beside me with her endless questions about what I was doing and why,_ Jia Li thought to herself.  
_Is that why my ancestors have been sending these nighttime visions about Lord Fuugamon?  
Because I have neglected Terriermon these past three years? Or is there some hidden danger?_

Although she never showed it, Jia Li missed the inquisitive little dog digimon. Aside from her  
four teammates, she had never had a closer friend. Not even Xiaochen, her younger cousin on  
her father's side of the family, was as close to Jia Li as Terriermon was.

Jia Li frowned a little as her thoughts drifted to her cousin. When they had been younger, she  
and Xiaochen had gotten along rather well despite the four year age difference between them.  
Both girls were only children, although recently that had changed with the birth of Xiaochen's  
brother, and so gravitated towards each other as playmates.

But Xinghua wasn't the only new thing about the Ling family. Something about them had changed  
somewhere, sometime during the three years since Jia Li's "disappearing act." They had stopped  
going to the Buddhist temple, and instead had begun worshiping at a new location elsewhere in the  
city. Jia Li had only been there once, when her aunt and uncle had held some sort of ceremony for  
Xinghua that involved water being put on the infant boy's head three times in succession.

Worshiping at this new temple also meant that Xiaochen and her mother didn't come to the Wen  
family shrine to pray whenever the Lings visited the Wens, like today. When Jia Li had tried to  
convince Xiaochen to come to the shrine with her, the seven year-old had refused and referred to  
their ancestors as "just a bunch of dead people" before going back inside.

_I don't know what to do about her, Honorable Ancestors,_ she prayed. _I fear that if she continues  
to shun you, she will lose your guidance. Please continue to watch over her, and little Xinghua as well._

* * *

"Thank you very much."

With those words Huang Wulan stepped away from the circulation desk of the Shanghai Library,  
library book firmly in hand. Just as he was about to turn and leave, the twelve year-old  
caught sight of a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye. The temptation was too much  
to resist, and with a grin Wulan tucked the book under his arm and headed towards the stacks.

Twelve year-old Chang Zhi was standing on tiptoes, one arm stretched high above her  
reaching for a book, and the other holding two or three tomes close to her chest. So intent  
was she in obtaining her goal that she barely registered the sound of footsteps behind her.

"You know, if one of Lord Fuugamon's soldiers were to show up right now, you probably  
wouldn't have a chance against it."

The sudden voice at her right shoulder nearly made Zhi shriek in surprise, but she managed to restrain  
herself to a somewhat quiet gasp. Quickly she turned around, dropping her books in the process.  
"Wulan!" Zhi exclaimed quietly, recognizing her teammate. "What are you doing here?"

Wulan held up the book, one on the history of the Chinese military, he had been carting around.  
"Grandfather put a hold on this about a week ago, and it finally came in. But his back has  
been acting up too much for him to make the trip, and Father was too busy, so Grandfather asked  
me to come pick it up for him."

"How honorable of you," Zhi teased. Her eyes strayed to Wulan's chest where she knew his  
Medallion lay, hidden beneath his shirt. Just like hers was.

"Well, what about you? What brings Chang Zhi to the Shanghai Library, aside from the thrill  
of being in the midst of all of these books?" Wulan responded with a glint in his eye. Part of  
him was gladdened that the two of them were able to fall back into their old banter even after  
not having seen one another for several months.

Zhi shook her head. "I'm working on a paper for science class, and some of the books I need  
aren't available in the school's library. So I had to come here. Unfortunately," she added,  
taking a furtive look around "I had to drag Zhou along."

"So where is the holy little terror?" Wulan asked.

"In the children's library, and I hope he stays there for a while because you and I need to  
talk." Zhi picked up her books, then dragged Wulan over to one of the many sets of chairs and  
low tables by the windows. Sitting down she asked, "So, have you talked with any of the others  
recently, or am I the only person you've run into?"

"By 'others' you mean Yuehon, right?" Wulan guessed. She nodded; back in the Digital World, Zhi  
had been the only one who had picked up on the crush the only male member of their team had had  
on the team leader. Not even Wulan himself had realized then the true extent of what he felt for  
Chou Yuehon. "I've seen Shu around, but you're the first person I've talked to in a while."

"Do you need her phone number?" Zhi asked. "I've got it."

Wulan shook his head. "Nah. What would I say to her, that I like her as more than a friend and  
a teammate? Even if we _were_ allowed to date at our age, Yuehon's already spoken for remember?"

"Oh, yeah. Jin Huifeng." Zhi uttered the name as if it gave her a bad taste in her mouth. The  
differences in what Zhi believed and what Yuehon believed had caused the girls to butt heads on  
several different occasions in the Digital World. One of the biggest sticking points was the older girl's  
opposition to the fact that Yuehon's parents had arranged a marriage for her when Yuehon was a baby.

The rest of the team had met Yuehon's fiance once, during a Christmas party in 2001;  
the boy, a year older than Wulan and Zhi, had been introduced to them as Huifeng. He  
was nice enough, treating Yuehon kindly and being respectful but a bit distant towards her  
friends. The only thing wrong with him as far as Zhi was concerned was that Yuehon was  
being forced to marry him against her will. Not even Yuehon's repeated protests that she  
and Huifeng had grown up with each other so that they wouldn't marry as complete strangers  
did nothing to change Zhi's mind.

The pair sat in silence for several minutes; Wulan held his grandfather's book in his lap  
and traced the cover design with his index finger. Finally Zhi spoke, breaking the quiet.  
"Wulan?" she asked. "Have you, um, been having...trouble? Sleeping?"

"Trouble sleeping?" Wulan looked at her, narrowing his eyes a bit. "Trouble sleeping...how?"

"Like...having bad dreams. Frequent ones," Zhi answered.

A cold feeling went through Wulan, starting at the base of his skull and running  
all the way down his spine. "About Lord Fuugamon? And our last battle?" he asked,  
lowering his voice.

"Yes!" she hissed. "You've been having them too?"

He nodded. "For the past week or so," Wulan responded. "I keep waking up one or two times  
a night because of them; fortunately everyone else in my house is a heavy sleeper."

"Same here, only I've woken Zhou up a couple of times with mine," said Zhi. "At first I  
thought they were brought on by Yuehon e-mailing us about the Invasion this past Christmas.  
But if both of us have been having them..."

"You think something bigger might be going on?" Wulan asked. Zhi nodded uncomfortably.

"I sure hope I'm wrong, though."

At that moment a set of footsteps walked up to them. "Zhi, are you ready to go yet?"  
whined a little boy, not quite eight years old. "I've been waiting to go home for _hours_!"

Zhi looked at her wristwatch and scoffed. "We've only been here forty-five minutes,  
Zhou," she corrected her little brother. "But I guess I'd better get you home anyway;  
I'm probably not going to be able to find anything else with you standing around whining  
the whole time." Zhi stood up, collecting her books and Wulan followed suit.

Zhou looked up at the older boy. "Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Huang Wulan," Wulan answered. "I'm a friend of your sister's." The corner of his  
mouth quirked as an almost evil grin spread across Zhou's face.

"Oo-ooh, Zhi has a boyfriend?" he teased.

"Zhou!" Zhi hissed as the siblings headed in the direction of the circulation desk.  
"Wulan is _not_ my _boyfriend_! He's just a friend of mine who happens to be a guy."

"Su-ure." Zhou was still grinning as his older sister checked out her books. As  
Wulan headed for the exit he passed by both of them, and he couldn't resist throwing  
a wink in the younger boy's direction as he headed out the door.

* * *

In the park, amongst the trees, walked Li Shu.

_I've been doing a lot of walking recently,_ the twelve year-old mused to herself.  
As much as she enjoyed the company of her family and her friends, there was still  
something to be said for being alone with one's self. It gave one time to think. And  
Shu had a lot on her mind these days.

She thought about telling the others about what was going on, about the trouble  
sleeping she'd been having these days. But she wasn't sure of what their reactions  
would be, or if anyone would respond. The last time Shu had seen any of them had been  
the 2001 Christmas party at Yuehon's home, and she didn't know if everyone else had  
kept in contact with each other since then.

_I don't think I'll bother Wulan or any of the other girls with this, Shu thought.  
It's probably nothing really major anyway...I hope._ The girl looked up at the bare  
tree branches above her, and in her mind's eye could see a grinning, green-furred monkey  
swinging from them. _I wish you were here, Koemon. I know what you'd probably tell me._

"Hey Shu! Shu!" a voice called behind her. The twelve year-old stopped in her tracks,  
waiting for the person in the distance to catch up to her. A minute or so later she had  
been joined by a boy her age. His cheeks were flushed both with the cold and from his run,  
and his breath escaped into white clouds as he panted. A fringe of black hair stuck out  
from underneath his stocking cap.

"What're you up to, Shihao?" she asked the boy. Shu noticed that he was holding  
something in one of his hands, covering it up with the other.

"I wanted to show you something," the boy, one of Shu's classmates at school, replied.  
When Shu nodded her head to show that she wanted to see it, Shihao lifted his hand.  
Nestled in his right hand was something that looked like it had once been a virtual pet.  
"I've been trying to recreate those watch devices you and the others have. What do you  
think?"

Shu gave Shihao and his homemade digivice a Look. He pressed a button on it, and the  
thing beeped once before dying. "I think you ought to go back to the drawing board and  
try something else." With that Shu picked up her walk from where she left off. Shihao  
quickily stuffed the virtual pet into his jacket pocket and hurried to catch up, falling  
into step beside her.

"Is everything okay?" Shihao asked. "You seem kinda...distant. I mean, more than usual.  
Things going okay between you and your teammates?"

"I guess." The girl shrugged. "I haven't spoken to any of them since Christmas two years  
ago."

"Everything all right at home?" he prodded.

Shu stopped, and rubbed at the back of her neck. "Well...kinda. But I don't want to talk  
about it."

Shihao pouted. "Aw, c'mon Shu. You can trust me. You trusted me before, remember?"

The girl sighed. After the group's return from the Digital World there had only been  
two people they had told about their adventure: Yuehon's fiance Huifeng, and Shihao.  
Shu wasn't sure about Huifeng, but she knew Shihao had believed them; he had been one  
of the few to have seen the Digimon that temporarily appeared in Shanghai in 1999.

"Okay. I've been having these nightmares lately. Every night they're the same  
thing - Yuehon, Wulan, Zhi, Jia Li and I and our Digimon fighting in the last battle  
against Lord Fuugamon. It's woken me up in the middle of the night nearly every night  
this week."

"Have you told the others?" Shihao questioned. When his friend shook her head he asked,  
"Why not? They are your teammates, aren't they? Maybe one of them would know why you're  
having these dreams, or at least know of a way to get rid of them."

"Maybe," Shu responded slowly.

"Besides, you'll be no worse off than you are now if you tell them," he added. A clock  
in the distanced struck the hour. "I've got to get home; I've still got homework to  
finish, and Mom'll be mad if she finds out I've been tinkering again instead of working  
on it. I'll see you in school, Shu!" With that Shihao ran off in the direction that  
he had come from, turning around once to call out, "Remember to tell them!" Shu giggled  
as he turned back around, only to have his ankles lock causing him to stumble and hit  
the ground.

Shu turned her gaze back to the trees, mulling what Shihao said over in her mind.  
It sounded a lot like what Koemon would have told her, if the monkey digimon were  
actually there. Shrugging, Shu stuffed her hands into her pockets and continued on to  
her own home.

Later that evening, after completing her own schoolwork, Shu opened up the e-mail program  
on her computer. She highlighted the e-mail addresses of her own teammates before composing  
it.

_Subject: Team Meeting_

_Hi, guys. How's everybody been? I know it's usually Yuehon's job to call one of these,  
but it's really important that I speak to everyone in person, as soon as possible. Could  
you all meet me in the municipal park tomorrow after school?_

_Thanks,  
Shu_

* * *

The next day, the members of the Shanghai Digi-destined team gathered together in the  
municipal park per Shu's invitation. With the exception of Wulan and Zhi, the kids  
hadn't seen each other since the holiday party of two years ago, so there was a brief  
moment devoted to catching up on the latest news. Congratulations were given to Jia Li  
on the birth of her new cousin, and Yuehon asked after the health of Wulan's grandfather.

Finally the group got down to business. "So what's the deal, Shu? Why'd you invite us  
all here? I have a feeling it wasn't for a gossip session," said Jia Li.

"Yeah; I could have stayed at home," chimed in Wulan.

Shu rolled her eyes. "It is important, to me at least." She took a deep breath,  
remembering what Shihao had said about the worst that could happen. "I've been having  
this...problem for the last week or so."

"Problem with what?" inquired Yuehon. She had a strange look on her face, almost as  
if she suspected what Shu was about to confess.

"Nightmares," the older girl replied. Before she could say anything else, Zhi jumped in.

"They're always the same, right? Our last battle against Lord Fuugamon?" she guessed.  
"And you always wake up right before Shiisamon landed the blow that turned the tide for  
us, heart pounding and breaking out in a sweat?"

Shu nodded. "Yeah. How did you know?"

"I've been having the same dream for the past week," Zhi replied grimly "and so has  
Wulan. He told me when we met at the library yesterday."

"Me too!" exclaimed Jia Li. "Well, I mean I've been having the same bad dream, not that  
I was in the library yesterday."

Yuehon was nodding. "I, too, have also been experiencing the same nightmare. I just  
wasn't sure whether or not to tell all of you, if it was just a dream or something else.  
I _did_ e-mail Hikari about it, but that is all I have done."

"Well, if all of us are having it then it's got to be more than a simple nightmare,"  
Wulan decided. "Have you heard back from Hikari yet?"

"Yes. She said that she wasn't sure what it could mean; it could be a warning, but  
then again it may be just bad memories brought back by the Invasion."

"It _is_ a warning," Jia Li asserted. "Why else would all of us be having the exact  
same dream, at the same time?"

Shu suggested, half-joking, "Maybe we're all psychic?"

"Not in this case," countered Zhi. "Not with all of us having the same nightmare, and  
about the same past event. I mean, the odds of all of us being precognative are near to  
impossible!"

"Maybe it's a free trial," guessed Shu. "We try having the power to see the future  
for a few days, see if any of us like it."

Jia Li shook her head. "No, it's different than that," she explained. "We may not have  
the power to see the future but this is most definately a warning. I don't know who its  
from, but something bad's going to happen soon and it's related to the Digital World."

"If that is the case, then we need to find a way to get there and make sure everything is  
all right," Yuehon declared.

"But how?" asked Zhi. "The closest team to us that's able to easily access the Digital  
World is Odaiba. Face it, unless someone gives _us_ an upgrade, we're stuck in the real  
world."

Their leader's face was grim. "We will find a way back into the Digital World. And then  
we will find out what's going on."

* * *

Author's Notes:

And here we have the introduction of the five Digi-destined of Shanghai. Yuehon was the  
Chinese girl who appeared in the first part of the "Digimon World Tour"; her partner was  
a Hanumon (Apemon in the dub). The other four, plus Shihao, Xiaochen, Huifeng and  
Yuehons' father are my creations (although Chou-sensei is based in part on Lee Jenrya's  
sensei from Digimon Tamers).

At this point in the Diaries timeline (mid-January 2003), the Chosen/Digi-destined  
message board has not been set up yet, nor has the e-mail service between Chosen and  
Digi-destined teams worldwide.

The title for this entry is taken from Track 5 of the 'Wicked' Original Broadway Cast  
Soundtrack. The song hints at the possibility that "something bad" is happening in Oz, just  
as something bad may be happening in Shanghai's section of the Digital World.

Upcoming Entry:  
Entry 2 - Password Required  
The Shanghai team searches for a way to get back to the Digital World, to see if their  
nightmares are just that, and discover an old enemy attempting to make a comeback.


End file.
